Just a few more pictures...mom and I in Sedona, a picture of the old police car in the junkyard - I mean ghost town. Then me and Danny's first outing without Brody...to a UT game! We won I am proud to say! Then Brody's first professional pictures. Good times!

Brody and Livy had a great day in the leaves one afternoon in November. Livy ran and jumped in the leaves and Brody well he was sure what in the world he was sitting in. Livy was sweet she didn't want to jump too close. When I asked her to get closer for the sake of the photo....she stood and looked and said, "Man this is making me nervous." LOL I'm thankful she is careful :)

Brody also learned to sit in the Bumbo seat and watch some Baby Einstein...too cute. I had to put him on the coffee table so he was eye level with the TV...which is too funny!

December

Wow, I am not really good at updating this blog. I have done so much since the last post and honestly I just forgot that I have a blog until I went to Amanda's wedding and someone said I read your blog. I thought, oh well you don't know much ha ha. So...let me see where to start.

Brody is growing like a weed. He has doubled in weight since he was born and is three months old. He's cooing really loud right now and wakes up in the best mood. I always tell him he wakes up on the right side of the bed and he just laughs and squeals. He just started squealing last week. Sometimes he gets so full of himself he just shakes his head and curls his nose. I could eat him with a spoon. I am more in love everyday.

He wakes up once a night now - oh what a relief. And sometimes in the middle of that feeding as I don't really realize what world I am in he smiles the biggest smile...and then I am ok with being up at 4 am. HA HA Kids are such a challenge, but the biggest joy of your life all at the same time. If you are a mother you totally understand.

The last five races were fun. Danny's mom helped us at Talladega and My mom traveled with us to the other races and kept Brody...like we had to twist their arm to keep their grandbaby. What a great relief for me! I am thankful to have a mom-in-law and mom who will take off and go with me to make sure Brody has someone who really cares. Danny's mom got shocked at all the craziness Talladega has to offer and my mom shopped with Brody, of course. For those of you who know my mom you will be proud that she navigated her way through Phoenix, Miami and Dallas. We even took a two day hiatus and went to Sedona, AZ to show Danny and our friend John around. We found a ghost town, Danny and John were in heaven..and me and mom well we just laughed at them loving the junk as we called it. Some man who looks like Santa Clause had all this great old cars parked in his yard, with his donkey, cats and chickens running around. People actually paid $5 a head to go in and look at it...wait we paid that too!

Brody was a pumpkin for Halloween. My mom got him the outfit and he looked cute as a button in it. I got him a glow in the dark skeleton outfit that he only wore that one day and outgrew it...man! Not like we did much for Halloween with a month old baby but we did go to Kevin and DeLana's motorhome to hang out. Brody cried the whole time so needless to say she will never have kids now.

Then the race season ended...thank goodness. Danny and I both lost our jobs. HT Motorsports trimmed down for the winter, but I have to say I am not really sure that he has intentions of opening back up this time. For me it was ok. I liked the job and the work. The teams, and drivers and Jim were all very good to me. But I have to admit racing is not my passion anymore. I have not felt the same in a long time about it. It has been the best job for me, and I have some wonderful friends out of it. But...for Lori it is time to move on. Now Danny on the other hand...he is pretty spun out. On one hand he says, stay in racing...its his passion and love. On the other he says get a normal job and live life. But we will see what turns out for him soon. In the meantime I have put our house on the market. I hate to sell but I figure with any job he takes we will probably relocate. I cannot imagine moving all this stuff again! UGH!!! Part of me is at peace and leaving it up to God as to where we need to be next.

I am looking into getting recertified to teach. I let the certification run out while I was on the NASCAR circuit. It was a great job when I did it and I miss the kids bad. I think I would truly be happiest in my life in a classroom...even if it is part time. I have realized through the birth of my child that he is the most important to me so I will make my choice based on him...well and the money of course LOL.

We went home for Thanksgiving. First to my parents house and had lunch with the family there. It was really cool to see my grandmother's and my family just gush over Brody. This child will be so spoiled...I just don't want him to be a brat ha ha. Brody just reacted to all of them and everyone just talked about how big he was...little chunk is a rolly polly...but oh I love that!

Then we went to Nashville. We got a lot done in Nashville. Had dinner with all of Danny's family and they all got to see Brody, most of the for the first time ever. He was a big hit. And his big sister Olivia really helped take care of him during the car ride. She loves being the big helper. Then we went to Amanda and Jon's wedding. Oh she was such a beautiful bride. I feel like I have raised that child, so I cried worse than her mom did. She danced with her dad Randall and I just felt so proud of her at that moment. Goodness I am a sap these days. Jon looked really good and they both seemed to have the best day of their lives. I am so thankful we were a part of it. Brody wore a tux to the wedding that Sheila got for him and man he was dashing! What a hit!

Then Danny's dad had surgery to fuse vertebraes together in his neck. It was a success but he is still in a lot of pain. Glad we were able to be there so Danny could see his dad through it. While he was at the hospital I had lunch with Lois. That was a good time catching up, we talked forever just like normal though.

Then it was back home again...and 8 hours in the car, stopping halfway to pick up my two dogs that my dad had kept while we were traveling the last weeks (thank you dad!) and two kids...it got busy at times ha ha. But we made it. The house is cleaned and on the market...and what is next...well stay tuned race fans!

First week at home

We have truly come to love our little man more than words can describe. Mom has felt the hormones that are natural post partum with the new worries, of why this child is not waking up to eat, and why won't he latch on? What is he crying about now? It's a learning process, and we are learning it with Brody each day. Kuddos goes out to my mom right now, man...without her I could not have made it this far! She has been very respectful and totally in tune with me being the mommy and her being the grandma. She has calmed down my nerves with this new baby and I am grateful she is here. I know the days of spoiling are coming soon, but for now my mom has been a godsent.

Brody weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces when he left the hospital on Wednesday and by Friday he had maintained that weight. Yeah! After his first doctor visit Brody went with Mom, Mimi and Poppy to eat at Ruby Tuesday's his first outing at a restaurant. But of course he was so worn out from the doctor that he didn't even know he was there.

On Saturday we got a visit from Aunt Phyllis and great grandmothers Dee Dee and Mamaw. They just loved on him and enjoyed meeting him for the first time. DeeDee laid Brody on her nest (her lap's nickname I gave it when I was little). Mamaw just watched him and talked about all the movements he was making. Aunt Phyllis even help give him a bath. It was fun for everyone to love on our child like we do.

Dad was in Loudon, NH and was calling all the time. He was missing his newborn bad! How hard to bring him home from the hospital one day and leave the very next! But when Dad returned home on Sunday he just held Brody and took him all in.

I have been struggling with the breast feeding thing. I agree with all the thoughts of how it is so great for the child and how much he needs his mother's milk. But one day he latches on, and then next he won't. Then one time he eats every two hours and the next he waits about 6...giving me a heart attack. Finally after a few days of this, we are on a routine (at least as I am writing this) every three hours. He still sleeps all the time but is waiting up to eat at least! I will take what I can get and go with the flow on the rest.

Brody's Birth

Well as I sit here staring at my child and thanking the good Lord above that he is with me, I realize I am very behind on updating this blog of the past two weeks events. I was scheduled to be induced on Monday the 14th. I had a TON of reservations about it. I cried for days and days just gearing myself up for the trauma I was about to endure. I was terrified. Danny left for the race on Thursday before my induction and my mom came once again to sit with me in case I went into labor. She and I walked, cleaned closets, got the car seat put in, packed my bag and tried everything we knew to get prepared. Or course we colored my hair :) Then on Sunday night as she was starting the last supper we were calling it, the doctor called. He talked me into coming on Sunday evening to get a jump start on softening my cervix. So I yelled, stop dinner, we are going to have a baby. Then the scramble began...who had the diaper bag, where is the pillows, did you pack this or that...OMG it was hilarious. Finally we got packed and rushed to the hospital. It was the element of surprise I was hoping to have LOL.

Once we got to the hospital, I checked in and they gave me some meds to get the process rolling overnight. Everyone slept, except me and mom. We were too nervous. The next morning at 8 am the doctor came in to check things out. He said looking good, so do you want to continue to have this baby or wait it out. I asked, "What do you think I should do?" He said, "Do it." Gulping, I said ok. Immediately he broke my water and said no turning back now. OMG I was having a baby.

Well it wasn't so bad at first. I started feeling pressure and a little bit of uncomfortable here and there. I got up sat in a chair, and was able to hang in there till about 3 centimeters dialated. Then, I said I am not wanting to be a hero here...Give mama her epidural! And it came...straight down from heaven. That was the best thing since sliced bread, I swear. I don't know how anyone could have a baby without it, and if you did...God Love Your Heart...You are all Woman. Cause man you missed out on some good stuff!

So I laid in bed, and had visitors. DeLana came with her agent Josh. Then Hollie, Sheila and Billy came. Then Paige and Livy came. It became a party in room 128. Hollie massaged my feet, while mom fed me jello and Sheila fanned my hot flashes. Too funny! They brought me a boa and a tiara, and we all joked around about that.

So now it is about 7 pm. I can feel the pressure through the epidural. That must have been some pain I would say. My nurse kicked everyone out, and we started the process. Danny and mom helped me with my legs. My dad sat in a corner and cried behind me and Hollie took pictures and video to document the whole thing. All day I hade done facebook updates until now, and that party ended abruptly too.

Now push, hold for 10 seconds (my mom would could slow and I had to hold my breath) and we did that three times in a row, and then rest till the next contraction. This went on for three hours. Turns out my little man was head down, but sunny side up. Well you can't have a baby sunny side up, so little man just wouldn't turn over. So after pushing as hard as I could for about 2.5 hours, they told me to roll over. This child is stuck in my birth canal and I have to put my legs together and roll over? Are you kidding me? I cried and cried cause I could feel the pain and pressure through my epidural. They came in and brought me more meds to help the pain. Now my legs were numb.

It was the ending, we were close but still not in the right position. So the doctor brought out a vaccum to help get Brody out of my canal. I pushed and pushed and he pulled on the poor little fellas head and the vaccum came off like three times. It was excrutiating. Then finally the doctor said ok one more time and we will have to do another route. Finally it worked.

Brody Shuler Rollins was born on September 14th, 2009. He weighed 7 pounds 15 ounces and was 21 3/4 inches long. He had his daddy's eyes, mommy's nose and the most precious kiss me lips you could imagine. Brody had a big strawberry on his head at first but it seems to be healing up well. We are so truly blessed at our boy and loving every minute of our time with him. What a wonderful gift we have been given.

38 week ultrasound pictures